Always the Odd Sock
by Werewolf of Fire
Summary: Bryan's doing his usual household chore and does some pondering over him and his team.


Disclaimer: Don't own Beyblade or its characters and I never will...

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**Always the Odd Sock**

He cursed quietly as Tala's pile of socks collapsed into the pile of singlets beside it. He hurriedly tidied them, sorted them, instantly reaching for the next article of clothing in the green plastic washing basket. Bryan had gotten into the habit of waking up and getting the more menial tasks he had to do out of the way before the day truly began; it left the better parts of the day free for him to waste.

Perhaps it was the overwhelmingly tedious task of folding other people's underwear that made him think. Perhaps it was because he was just that bored. Either way… Bryan wasn't usually one to think over life and its intricacies; he hadn't ever seen point to it. Though even if he did he hadn't ever had the time to do so. Life in the Abbey hadn't allowed him to just sit and think about what he was doing there or what he was going to do in the future; it had always been the same.

Always the same: train, train, train.

Boris hadn't really ever allowed him to go to relax. No one in his team had. No one in the Abbey had. The children would have been training. The doctors would have always be monitoring the children. The scientists had always tried to find ways to improve the children. Boris – Boris was crazy. Did the crazy sleep? Bryan hadn't ever thought so.

The old man with his 'freaky' (Ian hadn't ever found a more fitting word for them) had haunted them since they'd first arrived at the Abbey. They'd all admitted it – Bryan hadn't, but the others had. Spencer, Ian and Tala – They had all admitted their weaknesses, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they seemed to the world at large – all weaknesses were a huge problem in the Abbey. Weakness lead to defeat, a few small loses lead to one big loss. Bryan had learnt that well and early.Any beating would knock any lesson into anyone's head quickly.

Bryan paused in his folding, having lost himself while he was thinking. He sighed, unfolded the boxers he'd been holding and held them up. Flames; Tala. He sighed.

They'd all grown up with very different personalities considering they were all supposed to be emotionless soldiers. They were supposed to turn out the same, weren't they? They were supposed to have different specialties, but they were all the same mentally and emotionally? Boris had failed miserably if that was supposed to have been the end result.

Ian was a troublemaker through and through. He was a snake that wouldn't hesitate to drive you into an asylum with his pranks and persistent questions. The runt knew how to get his way though. He was sneaky and didn't hesitate to act out one of his creative plans when he really wanted something. Bryan sometimes thought it was a blessing; Tala thought far too much sometimes, while Bryan didn't think at all.

Tala was bossy, but Bryan had decided that, that was what made him a good leader. He could also drive a saint to insanity, through his constant whining and drawling. But again that was part of being a leader. What kind of a leader would he be if he wasn't able to speak outright about what he did or didn't like? Bryan couldn't see Tala being any other way either. Tala was Tala. Tala _needed _to rant. Him however, Bryan, he could do without whining, he could deal with everything bottled up inside. All he needed was a beyblade and an opponent.

Bryan's opinion held Spencer as the sanest of the four of them. Bryan knew he was capable of many sneaky, cruel and sadistic things – hell, who did anyone think taught him the art of sarcasm? – Though he could generally hold out on them. It was him Bryan suspected whenever Ian truly did seem to be innocent. Spencer knew his limits and he didn't push them if he knew he'd fail. He was cautious like that, though he would generally assist anyone else at making a fool of themselves. Bryan had been on the receiving end of that trait many times. He was the team's phyciatrist. He could listen, but he could also talk. Not much mind you, but he did. Bryan couldn't keep his mind and body still for long enough to listen to someone blurt out their problems.

His opinion of himself left Bryan feeling left out; Bryan found himself to be - He was a befuddled mess of information and idealisms. He knew that he was considered unstable by many people (Mariah, constantly reminded him). He was far too pessimistic for his own good - What had Spencer said the other day? 'It's getting persistently harder to see the good in the world with you around.' - and that Boris had done some weird shit to his brain to make him that way. Bryan was trained to be a loose canon, unforgiving, unmerciful. He had been trained to follow orders and to destroy.

However, he didn't fit into anything he'd seen in the macro world so far. Ian was just like a kid should be, though far more trained in the subject of sneaky warfare than most children his age. Tala was just like a teenager, but he was trained to be a perfect captain, where failures didn't lead to him getting better, but him being thrown out. Spencer was a mature young man; he was the one with all the answers, he was the one that didn't mind admiting he was wrong even when he was right. Bryan was… Well… He wasn't sure. He wasn't a delinquent as such, but he did have problems. Or so people told him.

They'd managed to fit into society with only small set backs. He however had to attend therapy once a week and had been assigned a job instead of having to go and look for one like the others.

Tala had found that working in a business with Kai suited him just fine, though Bryan suspected that there was more going on there than the two of them would admit.

Spencer had developed a soft spot for next door's little girl and her older brother. Their parents had been hesitant to leave them in the care of the Demolition Boys, but had since then grown to be regular visitors.

Ian had even started dating. Bryan had winced when the squirt had told him exactly who he was (he already saw enough of the White Tigers as it was) but hadn't complained after seeing how happy Kevin made him.

Bryan frowned as he raised the last article of clothing so that it was hanging in front of his face. An odd sock. He smirked sourly at the irony of it all.

"What are you looking so bitter about?" A deep voice rumbled from behind Bryan. Bryan twisted around from his position, sitting of the floor with his legs crossed, to stare up at Spencer.

"I have an odd sock." He replied bluntly.

The blonde looked vaguely amused, his eyebrows raised minutely, "Whose is it?"

Bryan squinted at it, his nose mere millimeters away from it, finally answering with, "It's Ian's."

Spencer shrugged, "Just chuck it on his pile, he'll use it anyway. No use giving up on it, we'll find its partner someday." He finished before he headed out to the kitchen.

Bryan turned back to the sock slowly, staring at it for a few minutes, just thinking before he smiled; perhaps there was hope for him yet.

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**Woffy:** This was Darkinu's prize on DeviantArt... She drew first prize...

My mum decided to yell that she was missing several socks... That's where this idea came from...

Review please! Make Woffy happy!


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